Chen Shu-chu

Chen Shu-chu

Chen Shu-chu (Chinese: 陳樹菊; Pinyin: Chén Shújú ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Sū-kiok , born around 1951) is a greengrocer and philanthropist from Taitung in southeastern Taiwan. She has a modest income, yet she donates very generously. According to Chen Shu-chu, money only serves its purpose when it is used for those who need it. And every time she helps other people, she feels happy. She was selected as a 2010 TIME 100 award winner in the Heroes category. She is also one of 48 Forbes Asia's Philanthropy Award winners. Reader's Digest also named her Asian of the Year in 2010. In 2012, she was also selected as a Ramon Magsaysay Prize winner.

biography

Chen Shu-chu was born in 1951 in Xiluo Township (Chinese: 西螺 鎮) in Yunlin County (Chinese: 雲林 縣). She followed her father at the age of seven and moved to Taitung. Chen Shu-chu graduated from Jen-Ai Elementary School (Chinese: 仁 愛國 小) in Taitung City, Taiwan. The household of eight people depended on their father's income as a greengrocer. Her mother died giving birth to a baby because the family could not afford TWD $ 5,000 for medical expenses. Chen Shu-chu decided to help her family and work as a greengrocer. Her youngest brother caught severe flu in 1969 and died that same year despite a donation from Jen-Ai Elementary School for medical treatment. Chen Shu-chu took on the burden of life and gave her older brother money to go to college. She never got married. Her youngest brother later died in a traffic accident. She had a hard life and in parts she hated it, so she devoted most of her time to escaping the darkness and helping others.

In the past she thought that society was very cruel and ugly, but she changed after she found herself in Buddhism. With the support of religion, she let go of the past. After selling vegetables for decades, she bought a small house, but she still had a very simple life. Her daily expenses were under TWD $ 100 (about 3 euros). As a Buddhist she had long been a vegetarian and she turned every penny. However, she always donated to the needy. After her father died in 1993, Chen Shu-chu made a donation of TWD $ 1 million to Fo Guang Buddhist Academy (Chinese: 佛光 學院). In 1997, she offered TWD $ 1 million in funding to her former school, Jen-Ai Elementary School, to help poor children get their education. Previously unable to afford to complete her schooling, she has a desire to help more children get a better education. She then helped the Jen-Ai Elementary School financially with an amount of TWD $ 4.5 million (approx. 150,000 euros) to help the school build its own library. In the ten years after the death of her father, Chen Shu-chu took over the sponsorship of three orphans at the Christian Kids Alive International Association and she donated TWD $ 36,000 (approx. 1,100 euros) annually.

The TIME 100 award ceremony 2010

In 2010, the story of Chen Shu-chu was picked up by foreign media. Time magazine invited them to participate in the award event. At first, she did not want to attend the banquet hosted by Time magazine, but then-President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, encouraged her to attend the event. Ex-President Ma let her know that the government would pay for all expenses. Ma let her know through Taitung District Judge Huang Jian-ting that she should go to the United States to claim her award and receive the honor on behalf of Taiwan. Ex-President Ma told the press that it was very moving to hear the story of Chen Shu-chu. All of Taiwan is proud of her because she lets the whole world know that Taiwanese have big hearts. She arrived in the United States on May 4, 2012 and attended the awards ceremony where she was presented with the award at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, New York.

The 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Prize

The Ramon Magsaysay Award ceremony was held on August 31, 2012 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila. More than a thousand people attended the event during the day. The then President of the Philippines, Noynoy Aquino honored the award winners. Noynoy Aquino appreciated Chen Shu-chu's contribution to helping the poor and sharing love. Chen Shu-chu then donated her US $ 50,000 (approx. 48,000 euros) prize money to Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital (Chinese: 臺 東 馬 偕 醫院).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cindy Sui: The Taiwanese vegetable seller turned philanthropist. BBC, October 6, 2014, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Ang Lee: Chen Shu-chu. In: The 2010 TIME 100. Time, April 29, 2010, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Forbes: Chen Shu-chu 59. In: In Pictures: 48 Heroes of Philanthropy. March 9, 2010, accessed April 30, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Reader's Digest Asian of The Year Announced for 2010. November 25, 2010, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation: 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees Announced. Retrieved April 18, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Taipei Times: Honoring Chen Shu-chu. July 28, 2012, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
7. ^ "Kids alive International Association at Taitung" (Chinese)